The "bushranger tree"

This large stump of an old tree is known as the "Bushranger tree". It is believed to be the remains of the tree to which the Clarke brothers, notorious bushrangers, were chained in 1867 while awaiting the coastal steamer to Sydney.

When they reached Sydney they were tried for the attempted murder of one of the police who arrested them, by shooting at him and wounding him in the leg. They were found guilty and subsequently executed. An accomplice was subsequently charged with and convicted of the murder of the Special Constables. And that was the end of the era of bushrangers in NSW.

One useful result from this period was that the government apparently recognised that the problems of lawlessness in rural areas arose, at least in part, because of a lack of public education (the Clarke brothers were totally illiterate). As a result they began introducing public education across the entire State, as necessary with part-time schools where teachers had to meet the needs of several tiny schools.